The pork belly tacos with kiwi pico de gallo and chicharrones are a must at West Town's Shaman

On one side of Chicago Avenue in West Town is Mexique, a Michelin-starred restaurant that dares apply precise French techniques to Mexican cooking. Across the street from Mexique is Shaman, a BYOB with a similar cooking vein, only cheekier.

Consider the corn tamal, with the crumbly consistency of corn bread, accompanied with savory blueberry salsa and crispy threads of fried beef brisket. It's a fun dish, and perhaps the most insightful way to describe the rest of the menu is it's Mexican cooking that a Rick Bayless-trained, 27-year-old culinary school graduate would attempt.

Her name is Natalie Oswald, who before joining Shaman and Lakeview's Chilam Balam (she runs both kitchens), was a pastry chef in Homaro Cantu's Moto group. The dining space at Shaman is a bit more rough-and-tumble (elementary school chairs, bathroom through the kitchen), but Oswald's beautifully plated dishes keep your focus trained at the dishes.

I was mighty impressed with her pork belly tacos. Pork belly is an easy crowd favorite, sure, but Oswald dresses it up with a kiwi and pineapple pico de gallo, and a hoisin sauce-like salsa negro. The fried pork belly lardons are paired with crunchy discs of chicharrones, because why not? It's indulgent but thoughtful.

A more restrained dish is the maitake mushroom flautas, with poblanos, chayote, Mexican zucchini and carrots, wrapped in a housemade fried tortilla and drenched with a green pumpkin seed sauce.

One unintended plus about Shaman: Because much of the dishes rely on corn masa, the majority of the menu is gluten-free.